Our Mission

PlainHealthAccess exists because healthcare access is one of the most consequential factors in community well-being, yet most Americans have no idea whether their county is a federally designated healthcare shortage area. HRSA maintains detailed records of every Health Professional Shortage Area and Medically Underserved Area in the country, but navigating the official data tools requires specialized knowledge and patience.

We believe this data should be instantly accessible to the patients, community advocates, policymakers, healthcare professionals, and journalists who need it. PlainHealthAccess transforms HRSA data into a searchable, browseable format covering 3,291 counties across all 56 states and territories, making it possible to check your area's shortage status, compare communities, and understand the scale of the access gap.

PlainHealthAccess provides free, searchable access to US healthcare shortage area data from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). We make it easy to find out whether your state, county, or community is designated as a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) or Medically Underserved Area (MUA).

Our Data

All data comes directly from the HRSA Data Warehouse (data.hrsa.gov), maintained by the Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This includes:

• Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs): Geographic, population, and facility-based designations for primary care, mental health, and dental provider shortages
• HPSA Scores: 0–25 severity scores for primary care and mental health; 0–26 for dental
• Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs): Designations using the Index of Medical Underservice (IMU)
• State and county summaries: HPSA counts, population-in-shortage statistics, and MUA counts for all 50 states and US territories

Methodology

We download raw datasets from the HRSA Data Warehouse, process them through our ETL pipeline, and organize them into searchable state and county pages. No data is modified, interpolated, or editorialized. Rankings are calculated directly from HRSA-provided counts and scores.

Data Currency

PlainHealthAccess currently displays designation data from the HRSA Data Warehouse as of Q1 2026. HRSA reviews and updates HPSA and MUA designations on an ongoing basis, new designations are added, existing ones are renewed or withdrawn, and scores are recalculated as provider and population data changes.

We refresh our database quarterly to incorporate new and updated HRSA designations. Because HRSA processes designation changes continuously rather than in annual batches, there may be a lag of up to 3 months between an official designation change and its reflection on PlainHealthAccess. For the most current designation status of a specific area, verify with HRSA's official HPSA Finder.

Not Affiliated

PlainHealthAccess is not affiliated with HRSA, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or any government agency. We are an independent data portal providing public information in a more accessible format. For official HPSA searches, visit HRSA's HPSA Finder.

How We Map Healthcare Shortage Areas

PlainHealthAccess uses two HRSA designation systems: Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), which identify communities with insufficient primary care, dental, or mental health providers, and Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs), which flag populations facing barriers to healthcare access. We map these designations to 3,291 counties across all 56 states and territories.

HPSA scores (a 0-25 scale measuring shortage severity) and MUA Index of Medical Underservice scores come directly from HRSA data. County profiles show active designations, provider-to-population ratios, and how many shortage area designations overlap in each geography. We do not create our own shortage definitions, we present the federal designations as HRSA publishes them.

Important Disclaimer

This site is for informational purposes only and does not provide medical advice. The data presented comes from government sources and is not a substitute for professional medical consultation. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider for medical decisions. Data accuracy depends on HRSA source data and may not reflect the most current conditions.

Editorial Independence

Raw designation data from the HRSA Data Warehouse is rendered into readable profiles by our continuous editorial pipeline and validated against the source before publication, no page is hand-written and no figure is typed in by an editor. The PlainHealthAccess editorial operation, published by Kiznis Studio, is responsible for which datasets we use, how each measure is labeled, the methodology, and corrections.

We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from providers, hospitals, manufacturers, or any healthcare entity. Our only revenue source is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense, advertisers do not influence which entities we cover or how we present data, and they do not receive preferential placement.

Contact

For questions or feedback, email hello@plainhealthaccess.com.